I’ve had a table of nutrition data for many foods online for a few years now.

The table lists the most popular data that people are commonly interested in – calories, grams of protein, fiber, fat, and total carbs. The table also lists something called “Net Carbs,” which has caused a little confusion. What exactly are Net Carbs?

“Net Carbs” is a measure used the the Atkins diet system that attempts to measure how a particular carbohydrate that impacts blood sugar. The theory of “net carbs” holds that some carbohydrates, such as those from fiber or sugar alcohols, have a smaller effect on blood sugar levels. Counting these carbs separately allows a person on a low-carb diet to feel “full,” thus increasing the effectiveness of the deit.

The formula for calculating net carbs is as follows:

Net Carbohydrates = Total Carbohydrates – (Carbohydates from Fiber + Carbohydrates from sugar alcohols)

This whole “net carbs” thing is a somewhat controversial measure, and it gets a bit more complicated than the above.  I’m no doctor, so I’ll leave the detailed explanation to the experts.

More information is available here and here.

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